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(CNN) –
It's been a few bad weeks for the memes.
In mid-September, the European Parliament adopted a new law on copyright, dubbed "prohibition of the same" by some.
Then, the Swedish advertising watchdog decided that the popular "distracted boyfriend" meme was sexist.
Today, academics have told UK lawmakers that the same over the internet could contribute to the obesity crisis in the UK and drastically hurt teenagers.
Researchers at Loughborough University wrote in a letter to a UK parliamentary committee to convey dangerous health messages and highlight unhealthy eating habits.
"A significant number of people on Twitter share health-related Internet memes, with both positive and negative messages," they wrote, noting that many "contain inappropriate information."
An image of an overweight child with the caption "Free Food? Count Me!" was sent with the letter as an example of the same that the researchers found dangerous.
Academics were also concerned about a man who created a human body out of pizzas and burgers, with Frankfurt sausages used for limbs and a sweet-smelling face potato.
The body was titled "me" and placed next to images of three well-defined bodies for purposes of comparison.
"The vast majority of participants feel little or no emotion when they share these memes," commented academics.
"I just washed this bar of chocolate with soap", read the caption on another image included in the letter, as well as #cleaning.
"Internet memes are generally considered entertaining, but they also represent a set of cultural practices that do not take into account the specific needs and rights of adolescents," the researchers warned.
"Unhealthy lifestyles cost the NHS billions every year," they added, suggesting that "the dangers of inaccurate / inappropriate health messages" contained in memes could be a contributing factor.
Call to scrutinize memes
The letter was sent to a committee analyzing the effects of using social media on the health of young people.
Its authors suggested that adolescents scrutinize the underlying themes in the same way they see, rather than simply enjoying them.
"It is worrying that the content of the website produces a predominant feeling of happiness, regardless of the underlying tone or image used," they wrote.
"If members of the Internet have political, corporate or other agendas without priorities tailored to the needs of 13-16 year olds, they have the potential to harm on a large scale," they added.
They also noted that memes "have the potential to normalize unwanted behaviors" and often contain "inappropriate" information or ridicule others because of race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, of fitness, religion and food. "
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